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ABATE OF WASHINGTON

APRIL 2023 UPDATES

State Coordinator's Report

Well, here are a few things to think about. First, we have had an email glitch. Go Daddy, the host of our email accounts, made some changes and increased the cost. That has caused us to change email providers. So you will see changes to email addresses for ABATE of Washington. Thank you to Joe Cain and Steve Carlsberg for making the necessary changes. Check your spam folders and make sure your reports to the state treasurer and state secretary get through. For a list of email addresses, check the web page. https://www.abate-wa.org/


Thank you too, Cheryl Holtquist for taking on State Membership. She will be working with Greg to take over this position. I would personally and on behalf of ABATE of Washington… Click here to read more 

 

Andy McAfee

State Coordinator

Spring Opener

We are happy to announce that raffle tickets for our 2023 Spring Opener raffle are available for sale. Thanks to our sponsors Jake's Gun and Pawn, Apple State Harley Davidson, and Mike Myers Motorcycle Attorney, we have some amazing prizes!

 

Please reach out to your Gambling Representative, David Crawford, to check out raffle tickets. His cell for call or text is 206-427-0091.

 

Below are the rules regarding distribution and selling of the raffle ticket, please review them carefully and Happy Selling.


Spring Opener Raffle Ticket Rules:

  • You must be an ABATE member in good standing to sell tickets.
  • The ABATE member that checks out the tickets from our Gambling Representative is responsible for returning the whole ticket or the ticket stub & $10.
  • The buyer and the seller must print their full legal first & last name as legible as possible. No nicknames, road names or initials please.
  • Please be mindful that when selling the Raffle Tickets, we need to make sure everyone has a fair chance when it comes time for the drawing. Therefore, the ticket stub cannot be altered in any way. This means no lamination, stickers, tape, rips, folding or creasing etc.
  • We ask that all SOLD tickets stubs & $10 be returned to the ABATE Gambling Representative by the June 11th, ECOM Meeting. The unsold tickets the member can keep & continue to try & keep selling. This is to help minimize the amount of cash & ticket stub counting we have to do the day of the event.
  • By 12 noon on Saturday of the Spring Opener ALL tickets & sold ticket stub / $10 must be turned back into the ABATE Gambling Representatives for counting. At that time there will be sperate tickets checked out that will be sold at the event between 12 noon & 6pm. The Gambling Representatives & State Officers could stretch out the selling time up until 8:30 pm depending on where the Gambling Committee is at with counting the sold tickets & money.
  • The drawing will be held at 10pm on Saturday, June 24, 2023
  • The member that sells the winning ticket for the 2020 Road King will get a $200 Pre-paid Visa (The member will be asked to complete a W9 for us to report your winnings)
  • The member that sells the winning ticket for the Tommy Gun will get a $200 Pre-paid Visa (The member will be asked to complete a W9 for us to report your winnings)
  • The members that sell any other of the winning tickets will get 1 Spring Opener member ticket for the 2024 Spring Opener event.
  • For any Chapter that sells 50 of the bike tickets OR 50 of the gun tickets (but not a combination of the two together) will get a Gift Certificate good for 1 Free Member Spring Opener ticket for the next year’s event. The Gift Certificates will be given to the Chapter Coordinators to pass out to the winning members of their chapter at the BOD in October.


The Vendor Registration form is attached here!

Official 2023 Spring Opener T-Shirts On Sale Now!

We will take preorders WITH payment before the event. We have a limited number of shirts, sweatshirts, and bandanas.

Sizes

T-Shirts:

  • S-5XL - $20

Sweatshirts (Pullover Hoodies):

  • S-4XL - $40

Bandanas:

  • $10

To order

Message Cheryl Holtquist through

FB Messenger OR Email at [email protected]

(copy/paste the Email address into your Email’s address bar if link is not working)



Payment Options

Payment can be made in one of four ways:

  1. CC info over the phone -Processed through our PayPal acct
  2. Venmo
  3. Check
  4. Cash

Delivery

Orders can be picked up at the Products booth at either the Swap Meet or the Spring Opener or you can pick them up at BOD (or have your Chapter Coordinator pick them up for you). I can also mail them but there will be an additional $3 per shirt fee for postage ($5 per sweatshirt).

PRINTER

Parsons Printwares

https://www.parsonsprintwares.com

Shirt design by Tina Lawson and Scott Robinson

ABATE of WA Spring Opener


NOTE:

The Poker Run T-Shirt can be purchased through Spanaway who is the sponsoring Chapter for that event.

Event Sponsors

Legislative Update

“Texas” Larry Walker

Legislative Affairs Officer, ABATE of WA

360-271-9285


“Texas” Larry Walker is an nationally certified Rider Coach for novice, intermediate, and advanced training. He is the Senior Instructor for Navy Region Northwest, a long time motorcyclist rights advocate, with well over 40 years of riding experience.


Where To From Here?


As this goes to press our traffic relief bills HB 1063 (Lane Sharing), HB 1487 (Right Shoulder Riding), and SB 5401 (Lane Sharing) have stalled out in committee and are effectively at a standstill for this session. We have our work cut out for us during the interim if we want to breathe life back into these measures for next session.


This is going to require all hands on deck and working the local legislative districts. Everyone needs to meet with their respective state representatives and senators to bring them on board with respect to the concept of lane sharing and shoulder riding. The bottom line is that there was not enough support within the committees to encourage moving forward with the bills. That needs to be addressed over the summer…


Click here to read more.

Motorcycle Riders Foundation

MRF and the Road to Zero Coalition



The Road to Zero Coalition, managed by the National Safety Council, held their Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 28th. Their goal is to achieve zero deaths related to motor vehicle crashes.


The Motorcycle Riders Foundation attended this activity to keep track of how motorcyclists may be impacted. Frankly, motorcycles don’t fit very well into their plan…


Click here to read more… 

BIKERS INSIDE THE BELTWAY 2023 – HOLDING COMMON GROUND



Bikers inside the Beltway – with the encouragement and direction of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, since the first Bikers inside the Beltway in 2009, thousands of bikers have met with their elected representatives and educated them about issues… 


Click here to read more… 

NHTSA Responds to Questions from Congress



Just before the end of 2022, Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan and 26 of his colleagues in Congress sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding recent crashes that involve motorcycles and cars believed to be in self-driving mode.


The response from government regulators has some key takeaways…


Click here to read more… 

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation mourns the passing of motorcyclist rights activist Wayne Lettau.



Wayne was heavily involved in the MRF’S federal legislative agenda, and his efforts with ABATE of South Dakota are legendary. His passion and skills delivered countless legislative victories including an impressive undefeated streak in the Statehouse…


Click here to read more about Wayne… 

NCOM Biker Newsbytes

Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,

National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)


YAMAHA PLEDGES 10 MILLION YEN TO TURKEY-SYRIA EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

 

Yamaha Motor Co. is putting aside 10 million yen to be used to support the victims of the February 6 Turkey-Syria earthquake and their ongoing recovery efforts.


Click here to read more…   

IN THE WIND

RUNS AND EVENTS

Spring Opener

June 22-25

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

2nd Annual Easter Run

April 8, 2023

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

Grant Co. Easter Egg Hunt

April 8, 2023

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

John K Run & End of Winter Ride

April 22, 2023

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

SKY Motorcycle Show



May 21, 2023

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

17th Annual Mt. St. Helen's Memorial Ride

May 21, 2023

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

Demolition Derby

July 4,2023

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

Run to the Desert

August 25-27, 2023

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

Oyster Run 2023

September 24, 2023

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FLYER

CHAPTER REPORTS

FOOTHILLS

Hoppy Spring & Easter! Please join us on Saturday, April 8th for our Terry Home Easter Run. Graciously accepting donations for the residents & their Easter baskets. They absolutely love it when we visit & they love checking out the bikes when the weather permits them to come outside and visit. Lot's coming up as winter winds down. We will see you out there! Get out and support each other!!


Billi Bowen

Chapter Coordinator

GRAYS HARBOR

Sign Planting BBQ at Ulrike's


We decided to finally plant ABATE "Share the Road" signs this Saturday, March 18. Pat said he would grill some hamburgers, I'm making potato salad, and anyone who wants to can show up with any other treat you like, or without... READ MORE

PACIFIC COUNTY

Run season is quickly approaching. Pacific County Chapter is preparing for our annual Pigout Charity Run. We would like to see you join us for a good ride around the coastal area, including two crossings of the Columbia River. 


Make sure your bike is ready for Spring. A little time spent inspecting now might save a breakdown later.


Repairs or maintenance are much easier in the garage than alongside the road!


Stay sharp and Ride Safe.

John Tschannen

SKCC

Spring is on the way.

We all lost an hour to our already busy days, but we have gained some needed light later in the day.


I want to shout out to all the ABATE of Washington Secretaries and Treasures out there. I know this can be a busy position, everything that goes on in your chapter goes through you... READ MORE

SPANAWAY

Really can’t thank everyone enough for the support of our soup challenge. Man that was some great eating.


Fast approaching is our last food event of the season, the Wing Ding cook off!.. READ MORE

STAR LAKE

 Greetings everyone from Star Lake Chapter,


We had our monthly chapter meeting March 5th, 2023, 10am-11am at Purdy’s Public House in Sumner. The chapter is making good progress with planning for upcoming year events and rides. The chapter discussed the events and charities we want to do this year. The chapter has two rides planned for early summer and late summer and other events we want to attend this year... READ MORE

Need to reach a specific Chapter?

Get their contact information here:

SEE ALL CHAPTERS HERE

MYERS & COMPANY

Myers _ Co Logo.png

Who We Are


We’ve been helping people for almost 30 years. We’re smart, efficient, and sophisticated. We measure success by the results achieved for our clients. Most of our cases involve a motorcycle, bicycle, and auto collisions. We work on a contingent fee basis. We only get paid if there’s a recovery. Not only do we do all the work, we also advance all the costs necessary to prepare the case for trial. Clients don’t have to pay any money upfront.


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See Our Reviews

Have you heard of umbrella coverage? Basically, it adds coverage to all of your policies. Or does it...?

By default, umbrella coverage increases liability limits. But it doesn’t increase everything. And that’s a big deal. Maybe the most important coverage you can have increased is uninsured motorists in (UM) and u red motorists (UIM). I’ve said it before. And I think it’s probably more true now than ever. At least 90 percent of drivers are uninsured or underinsured. (We just settled a case against a driver who had $5.3M in coverage—and even he didn’t have enough insurance.) So it’s vital that you let your insurance agent/broker know that you want your umbrella policy to cover not only liability but also UM/UIM.

 Click here to read more about umbrella coverage


The Ins & Outs of "Releases" in Washington

We’re asked to sign releases all the time. Sometimes we’re not even asked to sign—they’re just embedded in our transactions. (Like when we buy lift

tickets to go skiing.) 

The Deterrent Effect of Releases

People fall into two categories. Either they assume that releases are iron-clad or they forget that they signed releases. The people who assume they’re iron-clad don’t pursue claims. That (false) belief is the biggest benefit to the businesses that make customers sign them.

Read More

Resources for Bikers

Filling in the Blanks


Most people have a pretty clear memory of how they got hurt. Frequently their memories are punctuated with very specific details. “That son of a bitch looked me right in the eye before turning left.” “The front door mat was a bright pastel color.” “The impact made a sound just like an M-80 going off.” But when you go through something traumatic, like a motorcycle wreck, the brain isn’t focused on making memories—it’s focused on survival. The same mechanisms that keep the brain sharp enough to escape immediate danger may also make it harder to accurately recall the event.

READ ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY OF MEMORY

He Passed Me Going 90 MPH


In just about every motorcycle case we have there

are allegations that our client was speeding. There are a couple of important things to know about the issue of motorcycle speed. The first relates to the reliability of witness observations. The second deals with the way courts deal with favored drivers exceeding the speed limit.


Witnesses are almost always wrong about

motorcycle speed. It may be based on the relatively small size of motorcycles compared to other vehicles. Or it may be based on witness bias.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WITNESS BIAS

Public Health and Relations Crisis


The concept of public health has really expanded. It used to focus on disease. Now it includes things like gun deaths. New York’s Governor recently declared

a gun violence disaster emergency. This new strategy treats gun violence as a public health crisis. We have a public health crisis of our own in Washington. It doesn’t have anything to do with guns. Or COVID-19. It has to do with motorcycles.

LEARN TO PLAY OFFENSE

What the Jury Doesn't Hear


The evidence rules have a big impact on what the jury gets to hear (and what it doesn’t get to hear). Evidence can seem a lot like an iceberg: 10 percent visible, 90 percent below the surface.


A lot of the evidence rules are counter-intuitive. Here’s what the jury doesn’t get to hear in a personal injury case:

KNOW ABOUT THE RULES

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